Photo: Sara Jaye Weiss/Shutterstock
Drew Barrymoreis opening up about perimenopause and how it has impacted her dating life.
The 48-year-old actress detailed her experience with perimenopause symptoms duringanOprah Dailypanellast week alongsideOprah Winfrey,Maria Shriver, Dr. Sharone Malone, Dr. Heather Hirsch and Dr. Judith Joseph. Perimenopause refers to the time where the body starts to make its natural transition to menopause, which marks the end of a woman’s reproductive years.
“There’s something in that stigma that I don’t want you to think I’m some dusty, old, dry thing. That’s not the image I want,” Barrymore explained, noting that she was hesitant to tell a recent date about the topic of the panel.
“I feel very confident, normally, and I want to be who I am and present myself. But in that moment I thought, I have to tell this story because it was a real life experience of, I’m so proud to be here,” she continued. “I’m an open book. But in that one moment, I was like, ‘I don’t want to say what it is, because I’m engaging in someone who I want to see me a certain way.'”
Barrymore added that the moment made her wonder if there’s any way society can “rebrand” menopause so that it’s not a taboo topic.
“If Mark Zuckerberg could rebrand Facebook to Meta, maybe we can do this for menopause,” she explained. “Because, we’ve got the word men-o-pause. Pause is a natural stop… to a lover that there might be something repellent about that subject. Whereas with no one else do I find this subject taboo.”
“You’re just that dry old bag when you talk about menopause. And that is the conversation, the stigma that has to change,” she added. “We have to make it funnier, more sexy and more safe. Because the ‘aha moment’ is the safe.”
“I am so hot, I think I’m having my first perimenopause hot flashes,” she said while quickly taking off her blazer and fanning herself. “For the first time, I think I’m having my first hot flash. Whoa!”
“Oh, I feel so honored,” Aniston quipped.
“I’m so sorry, do you feel this?” Barrymore asked before Aniston said it’s internal heat. “Or maybe I’m just that excited.”
“Well, I’m so glad I have this moment documented,” Barrymore said with a laugh.
Barrymore said the stigma will end as people see “the more women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s are looking so attractive, feeling so vibrant, living their best lives. The way menopause has been branded is, ‘You’re old, you’re done.’ That’s not it.”
source: people.com
